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A pandemic is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of people. A widespread endemic disease with a stable number of infected people is not a pandemic. Widespread endemic diseases with a stable number of infected people such as recurrences of seasonal influenza are generally excluded as they occur simultaneously in large regions of the globe rather than being spread worldwide.
GISAID is a global science initiative and primary source established in 2008 that provides open-access to genomic data of influenza viruses and the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. On January 10, 2020, the first whole-genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 were made available on GISAID, which enabled global responses to the pandemic, including the development of the first vaccines and diagnostic tests to detect SARS-CoV-2. GISAID facilitates genomic epidemiology and real-time surveillance to monitor the emergence of new COVID-19 viral strains across the planet.
The National Institute of Virology, Pune is an Indian virology research institute, and one of the translational science cells part of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). It was previously known as 'Virus Research Center' and was founded in collaboration with the Rockefeller Foundation. It has been designated as a WHO H5 reference laboratory for SE Asia region.
In the diagnostic laboratory virus infections can be confirmed by a multitude of methods. Diagnostic virology has changed rapidly due to the advent of molecular techniques and increased clinical sensitivity of serological assays.
Influenza-like illness (ILI), also known as flu-like syndrome or flu-like symptoms, is a medical diagnosis of possible influenza or other illness causing a set of common symptoms. These include fever, shivering, chills, malaise, dry cough, loss of appetite, body aches, and nausea, typically in connection with a sudden onset of illness. In most cases, the symptoms are caused by cytokines released by immune system activation, and are thus relatively non-specific.
The 2009 flu pandemic in the United States was caused by a novel strain of the Influenza A/H1N1 virus, commonly referred to as "swine flu", that was first detected on 15 April 2009. While the 2009 H1N1 virus strain was commonly referred to as "swine flu", there is no evidence that it is endemic to pigs or of transmission from pigs to people; instead, the virus spreads from person to person. On April 25th, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency, followed concurringly by the Obama administration on April 26th.
The National Centre for Disease Control is an institute under the Indian Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It was established in July 1963 for research in epidemiology and control of communicable diseases and to reorganize the activities of the Malaria Institute of India. It has eight branches at Alwar, Bengaluru, Trivandrum, Calicut, Coonoor, Jagdalpur, Patna, Rajahmundry and Varanasi to advise the respective state governments on public health. The headquarters are in Sham Nath Marg, in New Delhi.
Makerere University Walter Reed Project (MUWRP) was established in 2002 for the primary purpose of HIV vaccine development and building of vaccine testing capability in Uganda. It is one of the 5 international research sites established by the Department of Defense (DoD) United States HIV Research Program (MHRP), a program centered at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) in Silver Spring, Maryland. MUWRP’s main facility is centrally located in Kampala, near the Makerere University College of Health Sciences where the MUWRP laboratory is located. The main facility includes the clinic, administrative and data offices.
The National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease (NCFAD), located in the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health in Winnipeg, Manitoba, is part of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s National Centres for Animal Disease. NCFAD is co-located with the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory.
DiaSorin is an Italian multinational biotechnology company that produces and markets in vitro diagnostics reagent kits used in immunodiagnostics and molecular diagnostics. The group was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Saluggia, Italy. Its production is at several plants located in Europe and the United States: Saluggia and Gerenzano (Italy), Dietzenbach (Germany), Stillwater, Minnesota (US), Dartford (UK). The company is a constituent of the FTSE Italia Mid Cap index.
A nasopharyngeal swab is a method for collecting a clinical test sample of nasal secretions from the back of the nose and throat. The sample is then analyzed for the presence of organisms or other clinical markers for disease. This diagnostic method is commonly used in suspected cases of whooping cough, diphtheria, influenza, and various types of diseases caused by the coronavirus family of viruses, including SARS, MERS, and COVID-19.
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) is part of the Health Service Executive. HPSC was set up in 1998 and was formerly known as the National Disease Surveillance Centre (NDSC).
COVID-19 testing involves analyzing samples to assess the current or past presence of SARS-CoV-2.The two main branches detect either the presence of the virus or of antibodies produced in response to infection. Molecular tests for viral presence through its molecular components are used to diagnose individual cases and to allow public health authorities to trace and contain outbreaks. Antibody tests instead show whether someone once had the disease. They are less useful for diagnosing current infections because antibodies may not develop for weeks after infection. It is used to assess disease prevalence, which aids the estimation of the infection fatality rate.
The COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The virus reached the country in late February 2020 and within three weeks, cases had been confirmed in all counties. The pandemic affected many aspects of society. The government shut all schools, colleges, childcare facilities and cultural institutions on 12 March 2020. All large gatherings were cancelled, including St Patrick's Day festivities two years running. On 24 March 2020, almost all businesses, venues, facilities and amenities were shut, and on 27 March, the first stay-at-home order was imposed, which banned all non-essential travel and contact with people outside one's home. The elderly and those with certain health conditions were told to cocoon. People were made keep apart in public. The Garda Síochána were given power to enforce the lockdown, which was repeatedly extended until 18 May.
COVID-19 surveillance involves monitoring the spread of the coronavirus disease in order to establish the patterns of disease progression. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends active surveillance, with focus of case finding, testing and contact tracing in all transmission scenarios. COVID-19 surveillance is expected to monitor epidemiological trends, rapidly detect new cases, and based on this information, provide epidemiological information to conduct risk assessment and guide disease preparedness.
The National Public Health Emergency Team is a group within Ireland's Department of Health that, according to former Minister for Health Simon Harris, is currently "overseeing and providing direction and expert advice across the health service and the wider public service, on the national response to" coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Eleni Nastouli is a Consultant Clinical Virologist at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) and Great Ormond Street Hospital. At UCLH Nastouli leads the Advanced Pathogen Diagnostics Unit, where she develops technologies for genome sequencing as well as studying how viruses are transmitted around hospitals. During the COVID-19 pandemic Nastouli led an investigation into infection rates amongst healthcare workers.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had many impacts on global health beyond those caused by the COVID-19 disease itself. It has led to a reduction in hospital visits for other reasons. There have been 38 per cent fewer hospital visits for heart attack symptoms in the United States and 40 per cent fewer in Spain. The head of cardiology at the University of Arizona said, "My worry is some of these people are dying at home because they're too scared to go to the hospital." There is also concern that people with strokes and appendicitis are not seeking timely treatment. Shortages of medical supplies have impacted people with various conditions.
Cillian de Gascun is an Irish consultant virologist who has served as Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory in UCD since 2013 and the Chair of the NPHET Coronavirus Expert Advisory Group since 5 February 2020.
COVID-19 testing in the Republic of Ireland can identify whether a person is infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19. The developing and delivering of testing of Ireland was led by the staff in the National Virus Reference Laboratory. With the acquisition of the sequence of the virus, they used this to develop and validate in-house assays in advance of obtaining any commercial diagnostic kits. The NVRL played a vital role in the early detection of COVID-19 cases in Ireland, and began playing a vital role in the detection of new variants of COVID-19 in 2021.
References
- ↑ "UCD National Virus Reference Laboratory". UCD. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ↑ "Clinical scientists participate in and oversee the development and implementation of infectious disease detection, result reporting and interpretation". IACS. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
- ↑ "Academy Statement Regarding Covid-19" (PDF). AMLS. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
- ↑ "Coronavirus lockdown steps could remain into winter, says expert". Dublin: The Irish Times. 4 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
- ↑ "UCD National Virus Reference Lab Annual Report 2017" (PDF). NVRL UCD. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ↑ "Influenza surveillance". HPSC. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
- ↑ "Monitoring Recent HIV Infection in Ireland, 2017" (PDF). HPSC. Retrieved 20 April 2020.